


Hole in the Ground

by GreatDane



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fanfiction, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-01 16:19:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10925490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreatDane/pseuds/GreatDane
Summary: Emily is a nice girl. She's just sad. When Josh Dun moves in next door, with frequent visits from his best friend, Emily realizes she's not the only one.





	1. Prologue

Prologue

Emily’s life was good. It really was. She had loving parents, good grades, a nice house. And that was the worst part - her life was good. She had no reason to be sad at all – no reason to lay crying in her bed at night, or carry the weight of a hundred bricks in her chest, or wanting to die. But she did. Everyday. And she felt so guilty about it – to always be the one dragging everyone else down. Her parents noticed, of course - and they tried to intervene. Tried to make her laugh, be there for her. She even went to a therapist a couple of times, but stopped when there were no immediate results. Emily always was an impatient person.

She didn’t want to feel sad; at least not in the beginning. She wanted to get rid of it, like a seasonal cold or the flu. It was foreign to her, like a cold blanket stretched over her skin, weighing her down. It felt out of place, as though it shouldn’t be there. But eventually, it became part of her; it sunk through her skin into her bones, making them feel a hundred times heavier, and making it a hundred times harder to get up in the morning. And after a while, she didn’t really want to part with it. It was who she was. It had become who she was.

It was easy for people, and occasionally even for herself, to sometimes think that she had gotten better. There were times where she went to family events or had lunch with her mom at the mall, feeling genuinely happy. Like there wasn’t, for a limited span of time, some kind of metaphorical black cloud looming over her head. She didn’t live in a deep pit of darkness. But she sure as hell spent a lot of time there.

But it all changed when a boy with a mind as dark as hers came into her life.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was an early Saturday morning. The birds had just begun chirping, complementing the sunlight that was filtered through Emily’s satin curtains. However, the serenity didn’t quite please the sleepy teenager who groggily sat up in her bed, squinting. It wasn’t the birds’ usual cheerful tunes that had woken her – no, it was the sound of a large truck that had just pulled up to the house next to hers. After a slow, lazy stretch, she stood to glance out of the window. A moving truck was parked at the curb next door with its rear pointed towards her, where she saw a handful of people trickling out of the back, carrying loads of cardboard boxes in varying sizes.   
However early it might have been, she had never been a heavy sleeper and could never go back to sleep once woken up, so she shrugged on a sweatshirt and trekked downstairs into the kitchen, where her mother was gazing out of the window, holding a steaming cup of coffee. 

“Morning, honey,” she greeted. She mumbled a quick ‘morning’ and went to pour a cup of coffee for herself when her mother spoke again. “Looks like we’re getting new neighbors.” She paused briefly as she turned to face her daughter. “That house has been empty for ages. I hope they’re nice people,” she added. Emily managed a strained smile. “I hope so, too.” 

Her mother averted her gaze at the silence between them, glancing at her nails. Earlier than her daughter would have liked, she spoke again. “I’ve seen some kids out there your age. You should go say hi to them.” Emily fought down a cringe at the thought, but couldn’t help the down-turned curve on her lips. “Oh, honey,” her mother continued, “it could be good for you to make some friends. God knows you never bring anyone home from school.” She sagged her shoulders at the teenager’s lack of response and backtracked a little. As her daughter stared at the black liquid in her cup, she placed a comforting hand on her shoulders – and frowned at her flinch.

“I just want you to be happy. But I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.” Emily managed a tight-lipped smile and nodded. She inhaled deeply and said: “You can just go over there. I’ll probably meet them at some point or other.”

Elizabeth squeezed the younger’s upper arm and said: “Alright.” After a moment of thought, as Emily had turned on her heel and was headed back for the stairs, she added, carefully: “Maybe you should start seeing a therapist again.”

Emily stilled and turned her head. “What? Why? I thought we agreed that it wasn’t working,” she said slowly. Her mother exhaled through her nose. “I know, but… This isn’t really working, either. I’m not blind, baby. I know you’re not happy. You can just… Just think about it, okay? And if not, you know that you can always come to me, yeah? Get those bad thoughts out of your head.” A small smile formed on Emily’s face, a genuine one, as she took a few steps and threw her arms around her mother, inhaling her familiar scent.

“Yeah. Love you, mom.”

 

It was almost a week before she finally met her new neighbors. Or at least some of them. Her mother had called them very sweet and welcoming, although she had only spoken to the parents, Laura and William. Apparently they had four kids – two boys and two girls, some of which were around her age.   
Emily dreaded meeting them. 

It wasn’t that she expected them to be bad people or anything; she just never really got along with other people her age that well. It was as though their brains worked through different waves, and hers was always the odd one out. So she kept to herself. And she intended on doing that forever.   
But that wasn’t exactly realistic.

And so it happened, on Thursday afternoon, five days after the new neighbors had arrived and the day after they had finally settled into the new house, they met.  
Emily had just come home from school, unclicking her seatbelt as she struggled to get out of her mother’s car with her bag. She didn’t notice the people on the lawn until her mother enthusiastically said: “Hey, boys!” 

Now, her parents brought her up to be polite, and Emily was sure her mother would give her an earful if she turned her back on them, so despite her heart picking up its pace, she turned on her heel, the grip on her shoulder strap a little tighter than before, and faced the boys across from her. There were two. They seemed to be about the same age, one with bright pink hair and the other with short, brown hair. They were really handsome – and she reached up to run a hand through her hair, suddenly hyperaware of her appearance. 

“Hey, mrs. Miller,” said the slightly taller one. Elizabeth was quick to grab her daughter by the shoulders and introduce the blushing teenager to the two. “This is my daughter, Emily.” She swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat and offered a small wave. “Um, hi, guys.” Their brown eyes were kind, slightly squinting in the sunlight, as they looked at her.

“I’m Josh, and this is Tyler,” the boy with bright pink hair introduced, gesturing to his friend. “Hi.” Emily could have slapped herself at her lame response, but the boys didn’t seem to mind. “Just came home from school?” She fixed her embarrassed gaze from her shoes to the boy who spoke - Tyler. He gestured towards her. “Your backpack.” Josh rolled his eyes and nudged the other boy. “You’re a real Sherlock Holmes, you know that?” The corner of her lips tugged upwards as Emily fingered the strap slung over her shoulder. “Yeah. I’m a senior.”

“Ah,” Tyler said, nodding. “Miss the high school-days. The welcoming peers. The financial stability.” Josh snorted, and Emily couldn’t help but do so, herself. They seemed really nice – or at least they had a good sense of humor. It was only when she glanced to the side that she realized her mother had left, leaving her to her own socially impaired devices. 

“So, um… You’re brothers?” She tried starting a conversation to avoid any kind of pregnant pause – those were always the death of her. To her surprise, the boys laughed. “Not by blood, no,” Josh replied, slinging an arm around the brunette’s shoulders. “Just really good friends.”   
“Oh.” She nodded, scuffing the tip of her shoe against the driveway’s asphalt and cursing her social anxiety. “That’s nice.” They smiled. “It is.” After a few seconds of pause, she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m just gonna… go inside now. Nice to meet you guys.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” they echoed, and she was on her way. Once inside, she spotted her mother on the couch, pretending to flip through a magazine. She knew she wasn’t paying it any attention when she shot her daughter a smirk. “They’re real nice, aren’t they?” Emily should have known her mother was up to something, but couldn’t blame her intentions, and therefore smiled right back at them. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

She slung her backpack off her shoulder and toed off her shoes. “Real handsome, too, right?” Heat rushed to her cheeks at the question, and she shook her head. “They seemed nice,” was her only response. 

 

Emily spent the night in her room, skipping dinner as she often did, and gazed out of the window. The voices were back in her head – or rather, one voice was back in her head. It told her everything she did wrong, replayed the day’s events in a distorted light that made her curse her own existence. Small, crescent marks were littered on her arms where she had dug her nails into them. And as always, she went to bed, dreading the day tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The following days bled into each other as they tended to do. Emily spent the mornings straining smiles for her parents, the afternoons slaving through homework, and she spent the evenings sitting on her bedroom floor while staring at the wall. Or clawing at her arms to distract herself from the voice inside her head. It varied.

School was stressing her out – not that her grades were ever perfect, but they were dropping. Assignments were getting turned in late, in poor quality, because she couldn’t focus at night. Or at any time, really. The voice was still there. It twisted her perception. Her teachers told her that they knew she could do better, that she just had to pull herself together. And if she couldn’t find it in her to do so, she could always go to the school therapist and maybe get the load off her chest.  
But that’s not what she heard.

All she heard was “we’re disappointed in you”, “you should be ashamed”, and the most frequent, sometimes implied, “why are you even here?”.

The latter was still on her mind as she entered her home one day after school. Why was she there?

Her mom greeted her with a smile as soon as she walked through the door, but Emily brushed her off and went straight for her room. It was rude, she knew that, but she didn’t have the energy to talk to her mother and pretend that things were getting better. Because they weren’t. But her parents shouldn’t have to worry about that. She stayed in her room until dinner, which her mother forced her to eat after she had turned it down two days in a row. It wasn’t that she wasn’t hungry, because she was, but she genuinely couldn’t find the energy to rise from the bed and descend the staircase. The weight in her chest seemed to consume it all, every last drop of energy from her body, and she couldn’t stop it.

Her mother had to call her name three times before she came down.

For some reason, the air was thick with tension at the dinner table, which held herself and her parents. But none of them acknowledged it. Emily poked at her food, disinterested, as her parents tried to strike up conversation with her. “How was school, honey?” “It was good.” “Did you learn something new today?” “Not really.” “Then why do you even bother going to school?” “Daniel…”

Elizabeth stared down her husband at his last question, but he seemed unaffected by her glare. “Speaking of school, have you decided what you’re gonna do after you graduate? It’s not that far away, you know.” Emily caught her bottom lip between her teeth at the question and shrugged. “I’m not sure. I want it to be something I actually want to do, you know? Rather do that than get stuck working nine to five at some job I hate.” Her mother nodded with an encouraging smile, but her father didn’t seem convinced.

“Under any circumstances, you need to decide. They will want an application soon, honey. If you can even get in anywhere with those grades…” The last sentence was mumbled, but Emily heard it loud and clear. It probably would have hurt at some point in her life, but she genuinely couldn’t find it in her to care. Tearing yourself down each and every day somehow makes you stronger in that sense. And weaker in others.

“Daniel! That’s not true – she’s just in a rough spot right now-“ “Right now?” he interrupted, shooting his wife a look carrying a resemblance to disbelief. Emily instinctively shrunk a little further back in her chair. If the ground would open up and swallow her whole in that moment, she would appreciate it.

“She’s been in a rough spot for a long time now, Elizabeth. To be honest, I don’t think she even wants to get better.” There was a pregnant pause at the table as Emily’s father gathered his thoughts. She stared at the plate in front of her. “I have been patient for a long time. I’ve been supportive. I know I have, and so have you, honey. We’ve helped our daughter in every way we could. Maybe this is out of our hands.”

Dead silence followed his words. Elizabeth was staring at her husband, the grip around her wine glass tightening by the second, and Emily didn’t dare lift her gaze. He was right, anyways. They had both been supportive, for far longer than necessary.

“What does that mean?” Emily asked finally, her voice quiet. It was heard clearly in the silence. Daniel cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter in his chair, seemingly having collected his thoughts. “I think…” He sent his wife a brief glance, almost as a plea for permission. She looked back at him with hard eyes.

“There are mental institutions for people like you, honey.” Elizabeth opened her mouth to interrupt, but her husband carried on quickly. “You could get help there, maybe. I’m no expert, I know, but it could be good.” The tension was building as he spoke, and Emily squeezed her eyes shut. Images of a hospital filled with crazy people flashed before her eyes – people who were mindless zombies walking around, high on drugs and worse than they were before they came.

“Please don’t send me to some kind of nuthouse, please.” Both parents seemed caught off guard, mouths half-open as though their words were caught in their throat. “I’ll be good, I promise. My – my grades, I can improve them, I swear,” she continued, voice cracking. She lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug. “I’ll be good. I- I promise. I’ll be good.”

Elizabeth reached towards her daughter, tears in her waterline, but her daughter shied away from the touch. “I- I’ll be good. But I have to go now. I can’t… I can’t-“

Her breath was getting caught in her throat, making her lungs burn. Without any further words, she stood abruptly and headed for the stairs leading to her room, which she ascended every day, but changed her mind at the last second. She reached for her coat and faced her parents again.

“I’ll be out for a little while. I… I won’t be late.” Leaving both her parents standing at the dinner table with unspoken questions written plainly on their faces, she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> I'd appreciate it if you commented on this to let me know if it's any good or not. It's just an idea I had floating around in my head that I decided to publish.
> 
> Thanks.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Elizabeth fretted when Emily came back, of course. She ran a hand through her daughter’s hair, which was shrugged off, and asked her where she had been, which was also shrugged off. She looked heartbroken.

“Baby. You can’t do this to me. Don’t shut me out,” she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. “I know dad wasn’t fair – I’m not gonna ship you off to some place for crazy people. My baby’s not crazy.” She offered a small smile along with her joke, but Emily stared blankly back at her.

“I’m starting to think I might be.”

Elizabeth was left standing speechless as her daughter walked back to her room. It was somewhere around midnight, that Emily knew, but she stayed up for hours, switching back and forth between staring out the window and shedding hot, salty tears as the gaping hole in her chest felt heavier and heavier.

The stars were so pretty.

 

Emily woke up at around noon the next day. The Sun was shining directly into her eyes, and she buried her face into a pillow with a groan. With great effort, she summoned all the strength in her body and got out of bed, and even managed a shower. She hadn’t showered in a while, now that she thought about it. Once dressed, she went downstairs for breakfast with slight trepidation. With what happened yesterday, she sort of expected to be chewed out by her parents – but as soon as they were in her field of view, they smiled at her. Calmly.

It was unsettling.

She slid into the chair across from her father, who was flipping through the day’s newspaper, and grabbed herself some eggs. Her mother smiled encouragingly at her. The smile was getting better, actually, and kind of helped; but then again, her mother had had plenty of opportunity to practice encouraging smiles with a daughter whose words had to be carefully coaxed out of her.

Elizabeth cleared her throat. “We’re gonna be out for the day, honey. You gonna be fine?” The younger exhaled loudly and almost rolled her eyes at the thought that a 19-year old girl couldn’t handle herself for a single day – but then again, she hadn’t really proven that she could actually do exactly that with how she had been acting for the past two years. So she settled for a nod. “I’ll handle it.”

 

An hour or so later they left, and Emily found herself spending her time in the confinements of her room as usual. The Sun was shining brightly outside her window, almost luring her outside through the glass. She thought about what her father had said the day before. And just like the day before, she came to the conclusion that he was right. That both of her parents had tried so hard for so long to just coax a genuine smile out of their daughter, which wasn’t fair to them. And yeah, she had told herself that she had tried the best she could at feeling happy again and that it was a lost cause – but she hadn’t. Not really. She had spent most of her time in her room ignoring her parents, and never giving them much to work with when they tried to start a conversation with her. As painful as it was to admit, maybe she had given the darkness a little too much leash. Maybe she should give the light a shot. Just for once. And if she didn’t like it, she could run straight back home to safety.

So she took a last glance out of the window and steeled her shoulders as she made her decision to go for a walk outside. Much like last night, she slipped on her shoes and a sweater and walked outside, prepared to walk for miles and miles. But she didn’t get much further than their mailbox when a voice startled her.

“Emily!”

She placed a hand on her chest in an attempt to calm her spooked heart. It was the mother of their new neighbors.

“Hi, honey,” she greeted. Emily gave a small wave. “Hi, Mrs. Dun.”

“You can call me Laura, sweetie. What’re you up to?” Emily was confused by the woman’s interest in her not-particularly-exciting activities, but answered anyway. “I’m just… I don’t know, walking around a little,” she replied, falling into her habit of playing with her fingers when in an uncomfortable situation.

“What about your parents, what are they up to? I love your mother, honey, she is such a nice woman.” The younger blushed under her gaze and replied in a small voice: “They’re out for the day. It’s just me.”

Mrs. Dun’s eyes lit up in a way Emily could not imagine would be in her favor, and her frail suspicions were confirmed when the woman cheerfully responded: “Then you should come to our house for dinner! There’s always room for an extra person at our table.” She forced a small, polite smile as her brain worked on highest capacity to figure out an excuse not to go. The woman did sound very nice, but she knew that she would ultimately find a way to embarrass herself beyond belief and then have to live the rest of her life next to a house of people who knew what kind of a freak she was.

“My mom left some cash for a pizza, so it’s really not nec-“ “Oh, nonsense!” Mrs. Dun exclaimed, taking off her gardening gloves. “I’m sure you’ll hit it off right away with my daughters – especially Ashley, she’s around your age,” she added with a smile. In the meantime, the less than genuine smile on Emily’s face faltered. Mrs. Dun noticed and faltered herself.

“Um, if you really don’t want to go, I understand, sweetie. I’m not trying to force-“ “No, that’s okay, Mrs. Dun.” Emily braced herself. ‘Might as well go big or go home’, she thought sarcastically. A decision that she would definitely come to regret. “I’ll come.”

Her heart ached as she saw hurt make its way slowly across the older woman’s face, and despite the sweat slicking down her hands at the thought of having dinner with her neighbors, she couldn’t bear to let down a woman as nice as her.

Mrs. Dun’s face lit up again within the span of a second, and Emily knew she had made a terrible move going outside.

 

At 7 p.m. sharp, Emily was wiping down her clammy hands on her jeans and pressed the doorbell to the Dun-family’s house. She could hear the bell echo from inside the house, and within seconds, footsteps accompanying it. A young girl opened the door – her eyes were the familiar shade of brown she had come to know from the girl’s mother, and a welcoming smile was on her face.

“Hi!” she said instantly as she reached to bring Emily inside the house by her hand. “I’m Abigail, but you can just call me Abby or something.” Her voice was so full of energy that Emily wondered whether she had just been fed a cup of extra strong cappuccino – but she smiled kindly at her and introduced herself.

“The dinner table’s this way, food’s not ready yet.” Yet again she grabbed the older teenager by the arm and dragged her inside the cozy dining room. It wasn’t small, nor was it big – it was quaint. Just the way a dining room should be. The dark brown wooden floors looked newly polished, as did the large window facing the garden. When she looked at the dinner table, she was slightly taken back. It was set up with a nice tablecloth, crystal glasses, silver cutlery and lit candles. Heat rushed to her face as she realized what trouble Mrs. Dun had gone through just for her.

As she took in the sight in front of her, yet another young girl entered the room – or rather, a young woman. “I’m Ashley,” she introduced and immediately stuck out a hand for Emily to shake. “Emily.”

“I know,” she smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you. My mom thinks you’re really sweet.”

If her face wasn’t hot before, it sure was now. “Um… Thank you.” Ashley merely laughed and patted her on the shoulder. “Chill. We won’t bite.” Yeah, well. That wasn’t particularly comforting.

 

It wasn’t long before they were all seated at the dinner table. Mrs. Dun had joined Emily and the two girls, along with her husband, William (or Bill, as he insisted to be called). She was informed that they had two sons – one who wasn’t living at home anymore, and a second one whom they were trying to coax out of the basement.

“I swear, he never leaves that drum kit alone,” Mrs. Dun mumbled. Emily sat awkwardly with the rest of the family as she went to call her son for the third time. “That boy and his music,” Mr. Dun added, shaking his head. “Do you like to play music, Emily?” She fiddled with her fingers in her lap and pursed her lips slightly. “Not that much, sir. I enjoy listening to it, sometimes, but I’ve never played anything.” A moment after, she added: “My mom did try to make me take piano lessons when I was younger, but I never really picked up on it.”

Mr. Dun hummed and straightened the fork lying in front of him so it was aligned perfectly with the fork.

Emily was saved from the awkward conversation as Mrs. Dun entered once again, only with a boy trailing after her. She recognized him immediately from the day she met him and his best friend out on the lawn and so terribly messed up her first impression. He slid into a seat and immediately reached to grab some food, but seized the motion when his mother slapped his hand. “Don’t be rude. Say hi to our guest at the very least.”

Emily smiled at him nervously. When his eyes met hers, he exclaimed: “Hey, Emily! Didn’t see you there.” His younger sisters rolled their eyes at him. “It’s quite alright,” she mumbled, fixating her gaze on her lap.

“Grace?”

She looked up at Mr. Dun as she spoke and saw that he was looking directly at her. “I’m sorry?” He smiled kindly. “Would you like to say grace?” Emily immediately broke out in a sweat. Her family had never been religious, but she knew that most people in that area were – and she desperately didn’t want to offend anyone. “Um-“ Luckily she was saved when Ashley, who was sitting next to her, put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll do it.” She winked.

Emily breathed a sigh of relief and smiled sheepishly at Josh who was sitting directly in front of her. “Fold your hands” he mouthed at her. She scrambled to do so and shot a quick glance around to make sure no one was glaring at her. They weren’t.

“Bless us, oh Lord, and these your gifts which we are about to receive from your bounty. Through Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.”

The rest of the company murmured “Amen” and dug into their meal.

“So, Emily,” Mrs. Dun began, and Emily bit her tongue as she was once again addressed personally. “What do you like to do for fun?” Emily actually thought about the question for a good ten seconds, but came up short. She, quite painfully, realized that there wasn’t really anything she did for fun. Not anymore, at least. So, naturally, she made something up on the spot to keep them from thinking poorly of her. “I like to read. Uh, poetry, mostly.”

The parents looked impressed, and Emily allowed her body to go a little more lax. “My friend Tyler is into poetry, too,” Josh said. “Oh?” Emily cleared her throat. “What kind?” Josh shrugged. “To be honest, I think he’s more into writing it himself than reading someone else’s stuff. It’s really good, you should read it sometime.” She hummed and stuck her fork into a small piece of broccoli. That was kind of cool, she had to admit - to be able to write something with more meaning than a grocery list. And, okay, there was actually a note of truth to her sentence; she used to be into poetry somewhat, but eventually felt the interest drain away as it did with everything else. She kind of envied them both for having something to turn to that made them feel something.

“Josh dabbles in drums,” Mr. Dun said, patting his son on the back. Josh rolled his eyes. “I don’t dabble in drums, dad. I’m in a band,” he said exasperatedly, as if he had been trying to convince his father of the same thing for years. Mr. Dun removed his hand and held it up in mock surrender. “Sorry ‘bout that.” He turned to Emily with a pointed look. “He’s in a band.”

Emily chuckled as she felt her interest peak a little. “A band, huh?” Josh nodded and lifted his chin in a proud manner. “With who?”

“Tyler, of course,” Ashley broke in, rolling her eyes to the back of her skull. “He’s literally with Josh everywhere he goes.” “That’s not true-“ “It’s kinda true, honey,” Mrs. Dun interrupted, but not unkindly.

“He’s a good kid. I like him a lot,” Mr. Dun said. Emily was relieved that the attention was taken off of her, at least for a little while. But in the following silence, for some reason, she dared venture back into the social sphere at the table, albeit slowly. “I’d love to hear some of your songs someday. I bet they’re good.” She bit her lip shyly, but relaxed a little when Josh grinned. “Sure.”

“Hey, why don’t you take her down to the basement after dinner, show her your stuff? I bet it’d be real interesting,” Mrs. Dun said. Josh shrugged indifferently and looked at Emily. “Sure. If she wants to.”

The corner of her lips tugged upwards. “I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyy, another chapter! Does anyone like this so far? And yes, Tyler will become a much bigger part of this story very soon, don’t worry.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dinner was surprisingly pleasant. Of course, the Duns asked questions and seemed interested in the stranger whom their mother had dragged inside the house from the street – but they were harmful and quite entertaining, actually, with the well-functioning chemistry inside their family. William, or Bill, was the person Emily was the most intimidated by at first, but he turned out to be just as kind and open-minded as her own father. Maybe a little more. 

By the end of dinner, Emily was feeling uncharacteristically at ease. It was such a foreign feeling – but it was a nice one, and she tended to grab a hold of those for as long as possible.

Once Mrs. Dun had cleared up the plates with leftover tiramisu and waved off Emily’s offer to help with the dishes (“I’ve got two daughters for a reason, sweetie”), the boy across from her motioned for her to follow with a wave of his hand. She did so with slight trepidation, but also with the resurfacing of suppressed feelings such as interest and excitement. Josh pulled a string from the ceiling, which ignited a yellow hue above their heads, and grabbed her hand. “Watch your step,” he warned, proceeding with caution. “My mom always tells my dad to fix these steps, but he never gets it done.” 

Emily laughed. “It’s the same with my parents. You wouldn’t believe the state of the tapestry in our basement even if you saw it.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and the cold seeped from the cement floors through Emily’s socks. Josh led her down a narrow hallway and opened a door – she winced at the high-pitched squeak emitting from the hinges. He was quick to apologize. “Sorry ‘bout that. My dad-“ “- has never gotten around to fix it. I know.” At the slip of her tongue, Emily immediately turned to look for a look of insult on Josh’s face. To her relief, there was none. Instead, he was just shaking his head and smiling down at her from his towering height.

He beckoned her into the room, which was dimly lit. Used egg cartons were plastered all over the wall haphazardly in an attempt of soundproofing – it didn’t work very well if the way she could hear Josh banging on his drums from the dining room earlier was any indication. In the corner stood a very worn drum kit with drumsticks laying on the stool, and across from it was a very large keyboard with a microphone attached to the front. Emily gestured towards it. “Do you play the keyboard, too, or is that-“ “- that’s Tyler,” he replied automatically. “He sings, too.” She nodded and once again let her eyes roam across the room. 

There wasn’t any free space on the walls, courtesy of the egg cartons, so Josh had opted for framing a couple of posters and putting them on the floor to lean against the wall. 

She turned back to face him.

“This is really cool,” she said, honestly. The boy across from her looked proud, if the way he puffed out his chest was any indication, and she fought down a smile. “It really is – although you have no idea how many hours I had to work to be able to afford any of this second-hand setup. Kinda embarrassing,” he added, rubbing the back of his neck. Emily shook her head. “I don’t think you should be embarrassed,” she said and made a point to look him in the eyes while jabbing a finger into his chest. “It’s pretty cool that you’ve earned all of this yourself, you know. That it wasn’t just given to you for free. Makes it worth a little more, right?”

Josh bit the inside of his cheek as he, too, took a long glance around the room. “I’ve never thought about it that way, actually,” he admitted after a few seconds of silence. 

Emily offered somewhat of a proud smile and took a seat on one of the two spare chairs in the room that weren’t adjacent to an instrument.

“Where do you work?” she asked, curious. 

“I had to leave my old job, but I’ve just applied for one at a record store downtown,” he answered with a grin. “The pay should be terrible, but I’ve heard they give employees discounts and stuff, which is pretty cool.” She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and gave a small nod. “That does sound pretty cool.”

As Josh threw himself down on the chair next to hers, Emily noticed a notebook lying on the keyboard in front of her. She knew it would be rude to just invade someone else’s private thoughts and would hate it if someone flipped through her diary (if she had one), but was genuinely intrigued by the setup around her and asked Josh for permission to look at it. He gave her a “go ahead”, and she reached to grab it. 

Just like everything else in the room, it looked worn and somewhat old, with frayed edges and handfuls of folded corners that made it seem a lot thicker than it actually was. With slight hesitation, Emily flipped open the first page and let her eyes roam over the words written there in a neat handwriting:

PROPERTY OF TYLER JOSEPH

She was taken back by the words and looked to Josh. “Should I be reading this? Like, is this his diary or something?” He shook his head. “It’s not really a diary, no. They’re lyrics and inspiration for our songs, actually. Tyler tends to make them really personal,” he replied with half a shrug. 

“Oh.”

Emily focused her attention on the small book in her hands again and slowly flipped to the next page. It was filled with scribbles. It was clear that the skeleton of a song had been written in there first, whose words had then been crossed out and changed, and with small arrows with commentaries pointing to certain parts of the song. She frowned. She turned to the next page, which was slightly more illegible. On the top of the page was written “Addict With a Pen”. Something inside of her jerked when she read the title, but she didn’t understand why. 

Hello  
We haven’t talked in quite some time  
I know  
I haven’t been the best  
Of sons, hello, I’ve been traveling in the desert of my mind  
And I  
Haven’t found a drop  
Of life

Almost forcefully, she slammed the book shut, startling the poor boy sitting next to her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, his gaze flickering between the book in her hands and her face. Her lips parted and closed a few times as she figured out what to say. She didn’t know what to say. Despite knowing that she had wrongfully trespassed into someone else’s mind, she almost felt like… like she was wrongfully trespassing into her own mind, however selfish that might sound. It felt strange, and she quickly shook her head to rid herself of the feeling. It didn’t work. 

“I just, um…” She scrambled for a reply as she slid the notebook back into its place. “It’s that bad, huh?” Josh laughed, and although she didn’t feel particularly amused by the situation, she was glad that he wasn’t making a big deal out of it. 

“No, not at all,” she said, honestly. “I think it was really, really good. Like, too good, almost.” Josh hummed and stretched out his legs in front of him. “It’s all Tyler. Everything in there comes from inside his own mind – it’s so… amazing,” he said at a loss for a better word to describe it. “I just play the beat for the songs, actually,” he added as his brows slowly slid down into a frown. “Nothing real special about that.”

It was incredible, actually. How Emily was able to turn any situation sour with a flick of her hand, despite how casual it might have been. With her foot properly shoved in her mouth, she reached towards him hesitantly and gently placed her hand on his tattooed bicep. “If someone with talent like that voluntarily wants to be in a band with you, I’m sure you’re nothing short of incredible.” 

She waited with baited breath for Josh to say something. He looked at her hand on his bicep first, and then he looked her in the eyes. “You’re really kind. Did you know that?”

As if scalded by his skin, she immediately removed her hand and bent her head down to conceal her embarrassment. “That’s not true,” she mumbled. 

She looked up when she heard Josh snort and saw him run his hand through his hair. “What is it with people like you? You’re just like Tyler, I swear. It’s like you’re immune to compliments. Seriously,” he added when he saw the corners of Emily’s mouth being lifted. “I guess that’s kinda true,” she admitted, now with a full smile on her face. Josh gave her an encouraging pat on the back. “At least you’re admitting to it. That’s a start.”

As conversation dwindled and Emily twirled around on the office chair she was sitting on, she got an idea.

“Can I hear some?” 

“Some what?” She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Some drumming? More specifically from you?” He laughed and said a cute ‘oh’ before standing up. “I guess that’s the reason why we’re down here in the first place.” He wiped down his hands on his jeans before picking up his drumsticks, much like Emily had done herself before pressing the doorbell to the very house she was inside. “My hands always get… clammy,” he chuckled. 

“Mhm,” she said, unimpressed. “Show me what you’ve got.”

And he did. He banged the drums like there was no tomorrow, keeping perfect time and making sure to twirl the drumsticks around effortlessly in his fingers whenever possible to show off. Despite it being loud, Emily actually found it to be a joyful moment. Josh looked so invested in what he was doing, so concentrated and into it, that Emily couldn’t help but do so, too. She even tapped her foot against the carpeted floor despite not having a single rhythmic bone in her body. 

When he was done, she made sure to give a standing ovation. He bowed in an exaggerated manner, which made Emily chuckle.

“Dude. That was so good,” she gushed, and the best part was that she meant every word. She didn’t have to feel guilty about exaggerating about his skills because he was genuinely that good. He bent his head shyly, and Emily made sure to point it out. “Aha! Don’t tell me I’m shy when you do the exact same thing that I do!”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said, despite his apology being discredited by the wide smile on his face. “You’re right. I’m-“ 

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before the phone in his pocket began ringing. He shot Emily an apologetic glance and answered on his way out to the hallway. Meanwhile, Emily was picking at a loose thread in her jeans and switching preferences as to what leg should be crossed over the other. 

Josh wasn’t gone for too long, and when he returned he had the same apologetic smile on his face. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey,” she said curiously. “What’s up?”

Josh jabbed a thumb over his shoulder and pointed towards the door leading to the room they were in. “Tyler asked if he could come over to practice, since he can’t tomorrow, so…”

“Oh.” 

Emily nodded in understanding despite actually feeling saddened by the aspect of leaving. These people had made her feel so welcome, especially Josh since he was the person she had exchanged the most words with. And he made her feel like she actually had a friend. And yeah, she knew that she was gonna go home and he was gonna forget all about her forgettable existence, but it was nice to pretend, at least for a little while. 

As gracefully as she could, which was not very, she slid out of the chair and discretely pulled up her jeans by the belt hoops. “I’ll see you at some other time then?” she asked, making sure to keep her voice as neutral as possible. 

A crease appeared between his brows as Josh looked at her. “I was kinda thinking that… You know, you could stay and chill with us or something – I get it if you don’t want to, but that’s just… what I thought… so yeah.” His voice trailed off slowly, and Emily was too proud to admit that her heart jumped in joy at his proposal, but her heart definitely jumped in joy at his proposal. 

“Fine. If you absolutely cannot go without my company, I guess I-“ “It’s not that necessary, Tyler and I can-“ 

In the spur of the moment, she clamped a hand over his mouth which failed to cover his smile. “Don’t sass my sass. Got it?”

Josh’s smile grew wider, if possible. “I think you and Tyler are gonna be great friends. Definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m genuinely writing this while procrastinating my exam for Tuesday. Do I feel bad about it? Nah.
> 
> And also thank you to those who have commented so far! You’re too kind.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Emily’s hands were getting clammy. She didn’t necessarily mind their company being extended by a +1, but maybe, just maybe, she only agreed to stay so carelessly because she was caught up in the spur of the moment. And now that the moment was dwindling down, the full realization that she would have to keep from making a fool of herself all over again hit her. Josh had assured her that Tyler was a nice guy, and they had of course already introduced themselves. But that was outside – this was inside a small, confined room where she couldn’t sneak her way out of the social interaction. 

Not a lot of small talk passed before the doorbell rang upstairs and Josh zoomed past her to greet his bandmate. She rose her eyebrows at his haste, but didn’t think too much about it. Maybe that was just what it was like to have a best friend. 

When their heavy footsteps could be heard descending the creaking staircase, she stood up nervously and rolled her shoulders in an effort to get rid of the accumulated tension. Within seconds, Josh appeared in the doorway again, only with another boy in tow. “Hey there,” he greeted. Emily automatically stuck out her hand for him to shake, but it was squashed against her belly as the boy enveloped her in a hug. Her nose was pressed against his shoulder, and she blinked as his scent overwhelmed her. 

She hesitantly reached to pat his back and wiggled her way out of the hug. “Hello.” 

Both boys chuckled at her, and she folded her arms across her chest shyly. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Tyler,” the boy said, and Emily shook her head. “Sure I do,” she replied. “You were on the lawn with Josh a few days ago.” 

Now that she was up-close and personal with the boy, she took a discrete moment to take in his features. She couldn’t help but notice that he was a whole lot nicer looking this close than from the distance. His brown eyes were squinted as he smiled at her, and she let her eyes roam down his nicely sloped nose down to his full lips.

When their introduction was fully over, he perched himself on the stool in front of the keyboard. “I’ve seen you a couple of times since that. You always seem to be in your own world.” At his words, Emily cast her eyes to the ground, too embarrassed to face the brunette. Perhaps she hadn’t been as invisible as she thought she was – whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, she didn’t know.

Josh laughed. “Way to sound like a stalker, Tyjo.” 

Tyler huffed in indignation but shot them both a slanted smirk. “Let’s get to it then, yeah?” After waiting for Josh’s confirmation, since she really didn’t have a say in it, Emily struggled to make herself comfortable on her designated chair as Josh made his way to the drum kit and Tyler found his way behind the keyboard. “What are we playing?” the drummer asked. 

Tyler hesitated briefly before reaching for the book in front of him and sifting through the pages before pausing at one. Emily found herself intrigued as his eyes roamed over the page. It was only a moment before he flipped to the next page.

He ran the tip of a finger over his bottom lip as he turned to Josh. “I’m thinking Holding on to You. Not really happy with the bridge yet…”

Josh nodded and picked up his drumsticks. “From the top?” “From the top.”

Before they began, Tyler turned to Emily and winked. “Get ready for an all-private concert performed by yours truly.” A small smile found its way onto her face at his words, and she leaned back with her arms crossed over her chest as she tried to resemble an intimidating judge. “Hit me.”

Tyler pressed a button on his keyboard and gave Josh the cue to count him in.

“1, 2, 3, 4…”

The sound of the keys was distorted into a synthetic one, and Emily found herself tilting her foot up and down. She rose her eyebrows in surprise when the brunette began rapping instead of singing. 

 

“I’m taking over my body  
Back in control, no more shotty  
I bet a lot of me was lost  
‘t’s uncrossed and ‘i’s undotted…”

 

Slowly but surely Emily felt her jaw fall slack at the piece of music unfolding in front of her. Many different kinds of music had found its way through her earbuds through the years, but none quite like this. And when she listened to the lyrics, really listened, she fell in love with what they did. 

 

“You should take my life  
You should take my soul…”

 

Her head was tilted to the side, almost in an attempt to listen closer to the song, despite it being impossible. The words hit her hard – harder than she had expected. Maybe, in the back of her mind, she would have expected them to play something entirely different. Rock, maybe, with heavy vocals singing nothing of value. This was the opposite. The lyrics sunk into her every pore, and she loved it. 

She almost frowned when they stopped abruptly. 

“Wow,” she said, feeling at a loss for words. “That was… So good.” 

“Actually, it was sick,” Josh added.

“Thanks,” Tyler said with a small smile. “I just don’t…” He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair. “What should come after that? Like, rapping? Singing? Or maybe just… I dunno, go right back to the chorus?” By this point, Josh had risen to his feet and was leaning over Tyler to peek into the notebook in front of them. Emily was still in her own little world inside her mind, processing every word, every chord, as the final vibrations were leaving her fingertips.

“What do you think?” 

Emily leaned her head on her hand and stared straight forward, not expecting them to call to her for help. 

She twitched in surprise when Josh tried to gain her attention again. “Hey, Em! Wanna come take a look?” It took her a few seconds to collect her thoughts. 

Also, did he just call her ‘Em’?

“Uh, yeah, sure.” She rose to her feet and peeked into the book, bent over in the same position Josh had been in moments before. Lyrics were scribbled all over the page, some crossed over, some underlined. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked it over, not really sure what she was looking for. She had never written poetry or anything with meaning in her entire life, so why they were asking for her input was beyond her - which is exactly the reason why she gave up after a quarter of a minute, offering them nothing but a helpless shrug. 

“I don’t know anything about music,” she pointed out when Josh perched his hands on his hips. 

“Then let’s do something else,” Tyler suggested. Emily looked between him and Josh and said: “No, no, I don’t want to interrupt anything. I mean, you came here to play music-“ “- and I didn’t know that my friend had company. We can figure this out some other time, it’s not like we’re publishing an album tomorrow.” He looked to his best friend for confirmation. “Yeah, no, it’s cool.”

Emily felt flattered that they would do that for her, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty for ruining their plans. They seemed really serious about the whole music-thing, and who was she to take that away from them, even for a moment? 

“Are you sure?” she asked, trying, but failing, to conceal her uncertainty. “I can just go home if that’s-“ 

Josh rolled his eyes and interrupted her. “Don’t be silly. You’re nice company.” He glanced at Tyler, who was still sitting behind the keyboard, paying them both his full attention. “We’ve practiced every day for the last two weeks. A break could be good,” he agreed. 

Emily’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “Um, alright then.” She stood awkwardly for a few seconds before returning to her chair, but paused when Tyler spoke again.

“Let’s go to your room then,” he said to Josh and then looked at Emily. She instinctively lowered her gaze to the ground. “It’s more comfy,” he added. 

Her cheeks felt warm as Tyler’s hand made contact with her lower back, his touch practically feather-light, as he guided her through the door, up two sets of stairs and through a second door. 

 

Josh’s now familiar scent overwhelmed her as she stepped inside, breathing a sigh of relief when her feet made contact with a plush carpet rather than concrete floors. His room was entirely boyish. A wooden desk was tucked into one corner, his unmade bed in the other, and the plain white walls held several posters of bands hung up with tape whose names she didn’t recognize. On his bedside table lay a small pile of comic books and a desk lamp that wasn’t plugged in.

She kinda liked it.

With no hesitation, the two boys threw themselves onto the bed and got comfortable, and Emily slowly made her way towards the chair by his desk. It didn’t look that comfortable, but it was better than the floor. 

“Sooo…” Josh began. There was a brief pause as he contemplated his next words. “Wanna play, like, 20 questions or something? Get to know each other?” 

Tyler responded with a surprisingly enthusiastic sound, whereas Emily almost gave nothing but a shy nod – but she mentally grabbed herself by the neck. This was Josh, her kind-of newly made friend, and yeah, Tyler was there, too, but he seemed nice, and there was no reason to act like that. So she drew a deep breath and said: “Yeah, let’s do it.”

“Wait, how does it work?” Tyler asked. “You and I already know each other.” “Oh, yeah…” He laughed as a look of confusion made its way across Josh’s face. “Maybe we’ll just take turns asking Emily stuff.” Josh nodded. “Yeah, okay. That could work.”

She braced herself and sat up a little straighter in her chair – maybe she felt real uncomfortable being put on the spot like that, but she could fake nonchalance. She hoped. 

“Favorite color?” Tyler rolled his eyes at Josh’s less than original question, but said nothing. “Um, gray, I think. Like, a deep, deep gray.”

“So black?” Josh clarified, eliciting bouts of laughter from the other two. “I guess.”

“Okay, my turn,” Tyler continued and took on a face of hard contemplation. “Favorite Disney-movie?” 

“Ooh, that’s a tough one,” Josh said and looked to Emily, awaiting her reply. “Favorite Disney-movie? Uh, definitely… Lilo & Stitch.”

Josh reacted with a resounding ‘yeeeah!’ and gave Emily a high-five, while Tyler raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “What? No! Toy Story is waaaay better, man.” “Actually, it’s sick.” “Guys, that’s not even Disney. That’s Pixar.” “Aren’t they the same thing though?” “I don’t think so.” “Well, it’s still better than Lilo & Snitch…”

“Okay! Onto the next question,” Josh said, his voice increasing in volume to break up the banter. “How about… last book you read?”

Emily folded her arms and leaned back as she pondered the question. She couldn’t remember, really. Robinson Crusoe? No, that wasn’t the one. Maybe… “Oliver Twist, I think.”

“Ooh, a woman of culture.” “We had to read it for school, though,” she admitted. “I’m just gonna pretend you didn’t say that.”

“Okay, I got one,” Tyler said as he placed his elbows on his knees, looking as though he was about to ask her the most important question in her entire life. “Favorite band?”

Emily cracked a smile. That was definitely a leading question if she ever heard one. She slipped into a mask of wild concentration and squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t remember their name,” she said slowly, peeking through her eyelashes to gauge their reactions. “And I haven’t heard a lot of songs from them, to be honest. Just one actually – or, you know, part of it. But it was really good…” 

“Ooh, I think I know which one it is,” Josh said proudly, puffing out his chest. “I don’t think you do,” Emily responded, her façade cracking as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “It was one song, and it had a lot of… spunk, I think you can say-“ “’Spunk’?” “Yes, spunk, and it was really cool.” 

“I think it was… My Chemical Romance. Yeah, no, it was definitely them. ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’. What a masterpiece.”

She burst into laughter at the offended looks on their faces. “Excuse me? Could you please leave? Josh, please make her leave.” Her laughter intensified at his word, and Josh was joining in. Tyler huffed and crossed his arms indignantly. “My Chem… They’re not even together anymore,” he muttered.

“No, but for real,” she said once the laughter died down. “I haven’t listened to a lot, but your band is probably my favorite so far.”

Tyler’s frown was turned upside down instantly, and he threw his arm around his bandmate and squeezed his shoulders tightly. “See? What did I say.” “You didn’t really say anything.”

“So what I’m saying is that my favorite band is…” She fell short and gave them an embarrassed smile. “You haven’t told me your band name yet.”

“You haven’t told her?” Tyler asked Josh, slapping his chest playfully. “My God, you’re the worst at PR.” Josh rolled his eyes and peeled Tyler’s hand off his chest. He turned to Emily.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he said, laughing. “We’re Twenty One Pilots.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ey, another chapter! Sorry about the kind-of abrupt stop; it was getting kind of long. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Also - sorry-not-sorry for the sneaky reference in there. Hope it didn't make you cringe too hard.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

“21 Pilots? That’s a pretty cool name.”

“It is, but it’s spelled out – just in case you ever wanna write it down-“ “- Why would she ever wanna write down our band’s name, Josh?” “I- I don’t know, just thought it was valuable information.” “Then you and I have very different understandings of what ‘valuable information’ is.”

Tyler turned to face Emily. “But, yeah, it’s spelled out.”

She struggled to contain a smile and nodded, feigning seriousness. “Spelled out. Got it.”

The snazzy replies were tumbling out of her on their own accord, and she didn’t even think twice about it. Somehow, these two 20-something boys had managed to make her feel at ease in a situation she would normally fight tooth and nail to avoid. Their personalities were a big factor, definitely, but their trains of thought seemed to resemble hers to the point where it felt like she could almost anticipate their next reply or action.

The game of interrogation went on for a while, but Emily found herself getting comfortable in the spotlight, almost like a feline soaking up the shine of the Sun. 

It was only when Josh pointed out that it was almost midnight that Emily realized she was still there, in the real world, and not in a bubble along with the two males across from her. 

“I gotta get going. Got that family-thing tomorrow,” Tyler said as he stood up and adjusted the fitting of his jeans. “Yeah, see you, man.” He grabbed Josh’s hand and proceeded to initiate an intricate, 10-second handshake that had Emily eyeing them both in something akin to awe. 

“Wow,” she said as she, too, stood up. “That was cool.” 

Tyler raised his eyebrows and shrugged indifferently as though it was no big deal, but Josh nodded and said: “Yeah. Took us a couple of hours to learn.”  
She hummed, impressed. “Well, I probably should get going, too. You’re gonna have to settle with a hug from me.” Josh laughed and opened his arms to embrace her. 

“I can teach you the handshake. It could be our thing, between the three of us.”

“Wow, Josh,” Tyler said, perching his hands on the side of his hips. His expression would have signaled anger, had it not been for his obvious struggle to keep down a smile. “You sure are fast to give away the secrets of this friendship.”

“It’s not a secret,” he argued and gave Emily a final squeeze before letting her go. “Plenty of people have seen us doing it.” “That sounded wrong, man.” “You know what I mean.”

Emily did nothing but shake her head at them and brushed past Tyler to exit the room. “You coming?” “Yeah, just a sec.” He grabbed his phone from the bedside table and offered Josh a last wave before following the girl through the hallway and down the stairs. 

Emily peeked her head through the archway leading to the living room – both of Josh’s parents were asleep on the couch with the TV still playing in the background. Oh well. She would just have to make a mental note to thank Mrs. Dun for dinner the next time she saw her. 

Tyler opened the door for her, and she stepped into the brisk air that immediately bit her cheeks and nose. He followed quickly, and she turned to face him. “I’m sorry that you didn’t get to play your music,” she said, almost immediately slipping back into her old, shy self for some reason. It felt different to be alone with him, even for the briefest of moments, now that she didn’t have Josh to rely on to keep the interaction smooth.

He waved her off. “It’s no biggie. It was nice to hang out with you.” She smiled and instinctively grabbed her left upper arm, sinking her nails into the skin covered by a thin sweatshirt. “It was nice hanging out with you, too.” 

And there she was. The usual, boring Emily who couldn’t display any sign of personality even if she tried. 

“Um, I guess I’ll see you sometime,” Tyler said after a few seconds of silence and headed for his car parked at the curb. Emily had turned around and was headed back towards the house when he called: “Hey, wait!” 

She turned abruptly and looked at him with interest. “Yeah?”

He slid his phone out of his front pocket. “Can I get your number? In case you wanna be invited over to another lengthy jam session,” he joked.

Emily’s brows automatically sunk in confusion. “You want my number?”

Tyler glanced around him. “Uh, yeah. Preferably.” 

“Um, sure.” She grabbed his phone hesitantly, clutching it in a tight grip so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself by dropping it, and typed in her number. 

“There you go,” she said as she handed it back to him. 

“Thanks. I’ll text you so you have my number, too – and probably forward it to Josh, if that’s okay.”

“Sure.”

They shared a final smile before parting ways. 

 

Emily was surprised to see the lights on when she stepped inside. Her parents’ voices came from the direction of the living room, and she quietly shut the door behind her before joining them.

“Emily!” 

Her mother rose from the couch immediately and enveloped her daughter in a tight hug. When her grip loosened, she held Emily at an arm’s length and studied her appearance.

“Where have you been? You didn’t leave a note! Your father and I came home to an empty house – my God, I thought something had happened to you.”

Emily gave her a sheepish smile and wrung her hands nervously. “I was next door,” she explained, throwing a nod in its direction to clarify. “Mrs. Dun invited me over for dinner.”

Her mother’s expression melted into one of surprise. “She did?” Emily nodded, and Elizabeth slowly let go of her daughter. “Well that was awfully nice of her.” She paused briefly, scanning the younger’s face for any signs of a lie. When she found none, she continued. 

“Did you have a nice time, then?”

“Yeah, it was really nice,” Emily responded as she slowly made her way towards the couch and plopped herself down next to her father, who was listening intently in on their conversation. “Josh was there, too – their oldest son,” she added. 

“The boy with the bright pink hair and the nose ring?” her father asked, finally joining the conversation. “Yes, that’s him,” Emily said, frowning a little at her father’s obvious distaste. “Is he nice?” “Yes, he’s nice.” “Very nice?”

“Daniel, stop that,” Elizabeth said lightly. “I’m sure he’s a good boy.”

He grumbled from deep within his chest in response. 

Their daughter rose from the couch, immediately sensing the battery of social energy draining from inside her. “I’m gonna go to bed now,” she said and leaned over to give her mother a peck on the cheek. “Good idea, baby. It’s getting late.”

She did the same to her father and slipped off her shoes before heading for her room.

 

Once her teeth and hair were brushed and she had changed into one of her father’s old t-shirts and shorts, she made herself comfortable under the duvet and faced the window as she did every night. The moon was full, tinting her carpeted floor with a blue hue, and she found herself yawning. 

As she lay there, feeling more tired than she had in a long time, she replayed the events of the day in her mind, nitpicking every interaction, every detail. Maybe she should have shown more gratitude towards Mrs. Dun for dinner, and maybe she should have interacted more with the sisters at the dinner table. And God, she made the boys miss their practice just because of her presence. She briefly remembered Tyler telling her that it was alright, that they had a good time anyway, but the memory was tucked away to the back of her mind. It didn’t matter, anyways. Chances were they were gonna forget about her anyway. 

Just as Emily was about to fall asleep, her phone vibrated from the nightstand. 

Her eyes burned as the screen’s fluorescent light lit up with a message. 

 

From: Unknown number

Hey, Emily. It’s Tyler. Sorry if I’m waking you up. Just wanted to say thanks for today – I had a good time. And now you have my number. You’re welcome.

Sleep tight. 

 

Despite the drowsiness weighing down her bones, she smiled into the darkness and let her fingers hover over the keys as she wondered if she should text him back. She couldn’t remember the last time she texted someone who wasn’t her mom or dad.

A few moments of contemplation passed after which she saved his number and texted a simple ‘you too’ back. 

Before she had the chance to put back her phone, it vibrated in her hands, signaling another incoming message. She lifted a curious eyebrow.

 

From: Unknown number

Hey. Thx 4 today. Sleep well.

It’s Josh btw.

 

She shook her head, smiling, and saved the number before putting her phone away. 

The silence seemed thicker now. Just when she thought (or feared) that she had heard the last from them, they texted her out of their own free will. The thought alone made her heart pick up its pace, and she fought the urge to bury her face in her pillow. 

Were they friends now? Surely not, since she had only hung out with them for a few hours – but the thought was comforting, a small, glinting light in the darkness, and she held onto it as she fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait – uni is kicking my butt at the moment. Again, please let me know what you think of this :)
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. please excuse any typos or weird wording - it's 4 a.m. and I chose to finish this chapter in lieu of sleep.

Chapter 7

At 7.45 a.m. Monday morning – two days since she had fallen asleep with a smile on her face for the first time in forever – Emily was waiting patiently by the front door.

Her father had just left for work, and her mother was bustling around in the kitchen, stowing away the ingredients she had used for breakfast. Like every morning, she was going to drop her daughter off at school before going to work.

Finally, Elizabeth wiped down her hands on a kitchen towel and grabbed her keys from the glass bowl on the counter.

“You ready to go?”

Emily gave a silent, tired nod and headed straight for the car, waiting impatiently for her mother to unlock the doors. When both were securely strapped in, she made herself comfortable as Elizabeth slid the key in the ignition and twisted it.

Only, the engine didn’t start. It gave a long, strenuous sigh as her mother tried twisting the key harder, but with no result. After a few tries she gave up and threw her hands up in the air in defeat.

“What the hell?” she exclaimed and gave the steering wheel an extra punch for good measure. Emily gave her mother a pointed look and a fought-down smile at her use of a swear word.

“Guess there’s no school for me today then,” she joked. Her mother shot her a sarcastic smile and whipped out her phone from her purse. “Let me call your father,” she sighed.

Emily stared out of the window as she waited, tapping her fingers against her jeans-clad thigh.

“My car won’t start, Daniel…” A pause. “What? Didn’t you take it there-“ Another pause. “I don’t think so. Pretty sure I flooded it.”

Emily turned to fiddling with the strap of her backpack, still gazing at the sun barely peeking over the horizon through heavy eyelids. She almost had a heart-attack when someone knocked on her window, forcefully tearing her out of her reverie.

Instinctively, she threw the backpack down by her feet and exited the car to see Josh standing there, wearing nothing but shorts, a T-shirt and what could only be his mother’s slippers. It was quite a comical sight, actually.

“Having car trouble?” he asked, gesturing towards the broken vehicle.

Emily rubbed the back of her neck and gave it an annoyed glance. “Yeah,” she answered. “It won’t start. Mom was gonna take me to school, so I don’t really know what the plan is yet.”

“Oh.” His eyes slid back and forth between the teenager and the car parked in the driveway a few times before he continued.

“Well, I’m not doing anything at the moment. Want me to take you?” he offered.

She raised her eyebrows unsurely. He didn’t really look up for the challenge. “Really? Um, if it’s not too much trouble-“ “- it’s no trouble at all,” he insisted, shrugging. Emily gnawed on her bottom lip for a moment and nodded. “Okay, then. Thanks. Just a sec.”

Emily ducked her head into the vehicle and grabbed her bag from the floor. Her mother was still on the phone. “Josh is taking me to school,” she said, which prompted Josh to wave from behind her.

Elizabeth put her hand over the cell’s microphone. “Oh, okay, honey.” Her eyes slid from her daughter to Josh. “Thank you.”

He led Emily to a slightly battered car parked in the driveway. The bottom was lined with rust, and the driver’s door had a dent that made it unable to close entirely.

She eyed it warily.

Josh noticed the look on her face and chortled. “It’s safe, don’t worry.” His need to verify its safety was less than comforting, but Emily slid into the passenger’s seat anyway.

“Just wait here a minute. I’m gonna… get my shoes,” he mumbled and jogged inside his parents’ house, almost slipping on the last step of the stairs. Emily held a hand over her mouth, concealing her smile.

When he, too, slid into the car, this time wearing worn-down Vans and a hoodie, the younger almost expected the car to fall apart as the springs groaned under his weight. The engine roared to life and the gearshift creaked a little as he maneuvered it around, so she tried turning up the volume of the radio to drown it out – but all she heard was a weak, crackling signal. She pursed her lips.

“Walnut Ridge?” he asked.

“That’s the one.”

As the car wound its way through the streets, Emily struck up conversation to distract herself from the deadly contraption she was currently strapped into.

“So… How did you know we were having car trouble?”

He shot her a brief glance before focusing on the road again. “It was my mom who noticed, actually,” he admitted. “She ripped the cup of coffee right out of my hands and told me to go out there under the impression that I have more knowledge of cars than she does – which is unbelievably incorrect.”

Emily chuckled and shook her head.

“But yeah,” he continued, “’go out there and be a good neighbor’,” he said, imitating his mother’s voice.

She nodded understandingly. “Know that feeling.”

The following silence was surprisingly comfortable, and Emily allowed herself to lax into the plastic seat and stretched out her short legs in front of her. The air freshener in the shape of a guitar dangling from the rearview mirror caught her attention, and a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

When they were nearing the school, Emily rubbed her eyes in an attempt to look more awake – or at least less dead. It was a lost cause, but she figured a little bit of effort wouldn’t hurt.

As Josh pulled up to the curb and Emily unclicked her seatbelt, ready to thank him for the ride, he turned to face her.

“Do you need a ride home, too?”

His question was unexpected, and Emily felt flattered that he was considerate enough to ask. It was a good thing that he brought it up himself, too, since Emily was still far too shy to begin throwing around demands for favors.

She accepted as politely as possible, notifying him that she got off at 3:15, and entered the school with a final wave at Josh, who was kind enough to wait to make sure she made it through the doors safely – the few hours they had spent together had apparently made it clear to him that it was more than possible for the teenager to somehow stumble and break her nose on the few steps leading to the lead entrance.

 

The classes went on as usual, and Emily’s English teacher gave her an encouraging smile as she handed in a 2-week overdue assignment in 2nd period. She kept her eyes on the floor on her way to her desk.

Before she knew it, it was time for lunch, which she spent in the back of the cafeteria alone as usual. She didn’t approach anyone, and no one approached her.

In the middle of 5th period, Emily’s phone buzzed on the desk in front of her. The balding teacher sent her a pointed look, and she blushed as she checked the message discreetly in her lap.

 

From: Tyler Joseph

 

Hey Em. Josh got called in for a job interview at the record shop. Want me to pick you up?

 

If the teacher noticed the uncharacteristic smile on Emily’s face, he didn’t mention it.

While trying to contain it, she typed a polite ‘yes, please’ and went to tuck away her phone – but on a whim, she decided to erase his last name from his contact information. If he was already emotionally invested enough to address her by a nickname, she figured she would return the favor. Kind of.

“Emily!”

At the sound of her name, she whipped up her head and looked at the teacher questioningly – before realizing that every single pair of eyes in the room was fixed on her. She shrunk back into the seat.

“Yes, sir?”

He tucked his hands into his pockets and nodded towards the equation written in chalk on the blackboard. “Care to inform me of the answer to this equation?” She looked it over and felt her brain kicking into overdrive as she tried to think of an answer.

As though he could see the gears turning in her head, the teacher continued. “I guess it’s safe to assume that you have, once again, not done your homework?”

Emily’s face was growing hotter by the second, the fire only fueled by the sound of snickering emitting from behind her. She felt her heartbeat in her fingertips as she replied timidly: “I have not, sir. I’m sorry.”

He sighed as he ran a hand over the scarce amount of hair on his head and pointed to another student. “Jeffrey?”

The thrill brought by Tyler’s message was entirely gone, instead replaced by a pounding of her heart that continued into the next lesson.

…

The last class of the day seemed to drag on far slower than it usually did. Thankfully, no one paid her any attention in that subject, and when the bell rang at 3.15 sharp, Emily rose from her chair and weaved her way through the stream of students longing for freedom. The bright pavement that greeted her stood in stark contrast to the dim lights inside, and she held up a hand above her brow to shield her eyes.

She stood waiting at the curb for not even two minutes before a car as equally beat up as Josh’s pulled up in front of her. Tyler waved at her from behind the wheel.

She gave an awkward wave back and checked both directions before climbing in next to him.

“Hey, there,” he greeted.

“Hi.” His distinctive smell was overwhelming, and she bit the inside of her cheek as he looked at her. For the third time that day, she slung her backpack down by her feet and got strapped in.

Tyler shifted the gear into drive and pulled away from the curb.

“Had a nice day?” he asked.

Not at all.

“It was okay,” she replied, giving what she hoped appeared to be a nonchalant shrug. “Got called out for not doing my homework in trigonometry,” she admitted. It was only after the words were spoken that she realized how much of an idiot she sounded like, and she immediately dug her nails into her thigh.

But to her surprise, Tyler merely nodded and said: “Ah. Been there a few times.” He made it sound as though it hadn’t bothered him at all, and she suddenly felt foolish for making such a big deal out of it. Not that that was anything new.

“I was in a band back then, too. Probably put a bit too much time into it,” he continued. “What was your excuse?”

The question came out light and void of judgement, but still, Emily was embarrassed to realize that she didn’t actually have one. The sad reality was that she had probably spent the night staring blankly out of the window – she couldn’t really remember.

“Dunno,” she mumbled, back at fiddling with her nails out of habit. She immediately tried thinking of a question to ask to discreetly direct the attention away from her.

“So… you’ve been in a band for that long?”

Tyler took on a look of mock-offence and turned to face her. “You make me sound like I’m a hundred,” he joked. “But yeah. I’m kinda serious about it.”

Emily nodded, unsure of what to answer.

“So you and Josh must have known each other for a long time,” she said finally.

“Not really. It was a different band back then. This thing with Josh is pretty new, actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” he said, chuckling. “That’s life.” He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “My old bandmates went on to pursue bigger things, I guess.”

“Bigger things?”

He shot her a slanted smirk and raised a shoulder. “You know. Education. Actual jobs with actual income.”

She smiled back at him and shook his head. “That’s not ‘bigger’ than being in a band.”

He faced her with a raised brow. “No?”

“No,” she confirmed, chuckling. “They’re just… different things, I guess.” She gnawed on her bottom lip in the following silence. “I mean, things are what you make them, right? Isn’t that what they say?”

“Ooh, a philosopher,” he teased, to which she rolled her eyes. “I like it.”

“I’m sure you do.”

He hummed.

They drove for a few minutes in silence before the quiet was broken by a loud growl emitting from Tyler’s stomach.

She looked at him, startled, causing them both to burst out laughing.

“What have you got in there?” she asked incredulously through the final, dying giggles.

“A huge appetite for tacos,” he answered, completely serious.

At the mentioning of food, Emily’s own stomach seemed to wake from its slumber, and she pointed towards the upcoming intersection. “If you take a right here, there’s a Taco Bell just down the street.”

Tyler looked at her with something akin to pride.


End file.
